Clean air advocates have a new weapon in the fight against toxic air pollution from the plastics and petrochemical industry: the Environmental Defense Fund’s innovative Petrochemical Air Pollution Map. Launched in early April, the tool shows where harmful pollution from petrochemical facilities is emitted, the companies responsible for the pollution, and the communities facing the greatest health risks.
The map comes at a critical moment as EPA launches the biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history, with plans to claw back clean air safeguards that protect our families’ health, disregard threats to communities already blanketed in pollution, and promote the burning of fossil fuels, like coal, exacerbating global warming.
Tell Congress: Protect Families From the Plastics and Petrochemical Industry
“There have been a lot of actions at the federal level that threaten protections against toxic air pollution and specifically regarding the petrochemical sector,” said Michelle Allen, EDF’s Manager of Petrochemicals, during a virtual training session on the new map. “EPA has recently offered to help industrial facilities pollute more rather than comply with existing clean air rules.”
Michelle was referring to a truly unsettling move by EPA to invite facilities regulated by the Clean Air Act to request exemptions from pollution controls by email—ignoring the public decision-making process typically required for these exemptions and potentially granting facilities a free pass to pollute for up to two years. The trade associations representing the plastics and petrochemical industry took EPA up on this offer and requested a blanket exemption for 218 petrochemical facilities covered by the 2024 chemical manufacturing rule, vital protections to limit pollution from facilities that make plastics, paints, synthetic fabrics, pesticides, vinyl flooring, and other petrochemical products.
EDF’s map uses gray and blue dots to show the locations of polluting facilities—with blue dots marking those regulated under the chemical manufacturing rule. If these facilities are granted exemptions, it could open the door to unchecked pollution in some of the nation’s most historically marginalized communities, many of which are located in the Ohio River Valley, Louisiana and Texas.
Many of the dots are surrounded by red hotspots, signaling the level of health risks to nearby communities—the darker the red, the greater the toxicity and danger. Users can click on individual census tracts to view detailed cancer and non-cancer risk estimates and compare those risks to other areas across the country.
The map also features the location of air monitors, marked with yellow dots, and includes filtering tools that let users identify which specific chemicals are driving the health risks.
The link to plastics
Petrochemicals are the building blocks of plastics, and with global plastics production expected to triple over the next 40 years, the petrochemical industry is growing rapidly, posing deeply concerning health and environmental risks.
“Every step of the petrochemical and plastics supply chain releases greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants that come at a steep cost to our health, our environment, and our climate,” said Patrice Tomcik, National Field Director at Moms. “The Petrochemical Air Pollution Map is a really useful tool to help understand how emissions from the petrochemical industry are threatening our health—including the health of neighborhoods like mine in western Pennsylvania in the Ohio River Valley, where dozens of new petrochemical facilities are being planned and constructed. Our children are most vulnerable to these risks.”
Petrochemical pollution has been linked to health impacts like higher risk of cancer, preterm birth, low birth weight, miscarriage, asthma and respiratory illness, and kidney disease. Researchers suggest that infants and children may be especially vulnerable since they breathe more and drink more (for their size), live closer to the ground (where many pollutants concentrate), and have sensitive, rapidly developing organ systems.
Pushing back against polluters
As the petrochemical industry expands and clean air protections come under threat, the Petrochemical Air Pollution Map is more essential than ever. It empowers advocates and concerned parents to combine hard data with lived experiences to demand accountability, push back against harmful policies like EPA’s “polluter pass,” and advocate for a healthier, more just future.
Check out the map to see how your community is impacted by petrochemical air pollution and then join Moms as we work to address the harms of plastics and petrochemical pollution at every step of the supply chain. We’re fighting back against polluters in our communities and demanding action from our lawmakers. Sign our petitions and get involved in your state.
Tell Congress: Protect Families From the Plastics and Petrochemical Industry